At the top of the ticket, HD-21 only became 3.8% more
Republican over the decade. It was never a solid Democratic
district. So the district didn’t change as much as Ritter
claimed.

This top of the ticket pattern is in line with that of many
districts that local and legislative Dems won time and again right
up through 2008. In 2010, local Repub's couldn't even find an
opponent for Ritter, but the “wave” reached down ballot and he may
have been scared by that. However, as we know, no two elections
are alike. In fact, Obama is already having a comeback of sorts...